BamaJam helps fill local, state tax coffers

The inaugural BamaJam concert event generated more than $340,000 in tax revenue for Enterprise, Coffee County and the State of Alabama.

“Looks like a pretty good form of economic development to me. What do you think?“ said event organizer and promoter Ronnie Gilley.

Tax figures sent to the Dothan Eagle from Gilley indicate BamaJam will pay $189,529.15 in state taxes, $82,020.60 in Enterprise city taxes and $47,073.30 in Coffee County taxes.

The three-day event held in early June featured several country music artists as well as alternative country and local bands. Gilley said 111,000 attended the final day’s concerts at the Coffee County venue, boosting cumulative attendance to near 200,000 for the event. Ticket sales along with food and other merchandise purchased during the event added up to a healthy take in the event’s first year.

Gilley said the tax numbers do not reflect the additional revenue generated from the throng of visitors who stayed in area hotels, ate at local restaurants and bought other goods in the Wiregrass.

“I can’t think of any other three-day event in the Wiregrass that generates that kind of tax revenue,“ Gilley said.

Gilley said he is considering keeping the event in Coffee County next year. He had originally intended to move the 2009 BamaJam to Dothan.